Record book



Aug. 31, 1954 G. L. BECKER 2,687,902

RECORD BOOK Filed May 22, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 "on" NH 40 0676 ,4 IN V EN TOR.

' Aug. 31, 1954 e. L. BECKER RECORD BOOK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 22, 1951 W m T a TE 5 m m P n M S RECEWABL HOME CUfiT. MIN 6 HOME ADDRESS TYPE 0 APPROVED az.

LlCENSE OOOOOOGGOO O Patented Aug. 31, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to record books and more particularly to record books in which any specified account retained therein may be rapidly and easily located. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved book of such character.

It is another object of the invention to provide a record book which is convenient to use and which greatly facilitates the handling of records.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved record book which includes therein both temporary records, which may be used for billing, and a relatively permanent record for keeping accounts over a long period of time, and in which the temporary records are readily removable and replaceable, and in which separate accounts may be quickly and easily placed in condition for entries therein.

It is another object of the invention, to provide an improved ledger in which a large number of accounts may be made readily accessible for use thereof.

This invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a record book, partially broken away, illustrating one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a duplicate record sheet assembly included in the embodiment of the invention disclosed in Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a plan View of a ledger card employed in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1.

The particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings is an accounts receivable ledger, specifically designed for use in automobile service stations, but the invention is, of course, not limited to such an application. The record book disclosed in Fig. 1 includes a ring binder comprising a front cover H, which is shown partly broken away in Fig. 1, a back cover [2, and a series of rings [3 under the control of an operating mechanism l4. Preferably, a large number of regularly spaced rings I3 are employed, for reasons which will subsequently become apparent. The operating mechanism i4 may be of any suitable form and accordingly will not be described in detail herein. It is believed to be sufficient for the purpose of describing the present invention to point out that the rings l3 are readily openable and closeable in accordance with conventional practice in so-called loose-leaf binders.

Enclosed in the binder are a plurality of cards I? upon which an individual account may be recorded over a period of some I8 months or weeks, depending upon whether a weekly or monthly billing system is employed by the service station operator.

A card it is shown in detail in Fig. 3 wherein it will be seen that the upper portion of the card is reserved for identification of a particular account. In the main body of the card, below the identification of the account, there are lines for recording the standing of the account at the end of each month or week. More specifically various columns are provided for entering therein charges which have accumulated over a given accounting period and payments made at various dates. At the left-hand edge of the card i5 there are provided a series of holes it of such size and spacing as to slip freely over the rings l3.

Referring again to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the cards 45 are arranged on the binder rings in overlapping positions spaced along the height of the binder. More specifically, each successive card is spaced from the next adjacent card by the distance between adjacent rings. With the particular arrangement disclosed in Fig. 1 the laterally extending portion at the lowermost edge of each card extends out from beneath the next adjacent overlying card. Along this laterally extending portion of each card there is repeated the name of the account. With this arrangement and with the accounts arranged in alphabetical order the user of the ledger may locate any account at a, glance.

While the cards are disclosed in Fig. l as being arranged to expose the lowermost edge of each card, it will be obvious that the cards may be arranged in reverse order such that the uppermost edge of each card is exposed instead. In such case identification of the account should, of course, appear along the upper edge of each card.

Overlying each card [5 is a duplicate record sheet assembly which is arranged for recording in duplicate individual purchases or services over a given period of time, for example one month. This assembly includes a slip of paper ll, a carbon sheet [8 and a second slip of paper l9. As will be apparent upon inspection of Fig. 1, the arrangement is such that entries may be made on the top slip IT and a duplicate record will be made 3 on the second slip I9 by virtue of the inclusion of the carbon sheet I8.

The three members I1, I8 and I9 are preferably bound together at their left-hand edges for convenience in handling. As may be seen best in Fig. 2, which discloses the slip I! of the illustrated embodiment, the binding at the left-hand edge has regularly spaced holes 20, similar to the holes I6, along the left-hand edge of the cards I for cooperation with the rings I3 of the binder.

In the lower left-hand corner of the slip I I there is a box for insertion of account identifying data, while the main body of this slip contains lines and columns for recording individual purchases and services. In the lower right-hand corner of the slip there is provided a box for summarizing the standing of the account as of some definite date.

Near the left-hand edge of the slips I! and I9 but to the right of the holes 20 there is a perforated line 2| for facilitating detachment of the individual slips I1 and I9. In the embodiment illustrated, it is intended that one of the slips I! or I9 be submitted as a bill while the other is retained in a file for reference purposes.

The slips I? and I9 and the carbon sheet I8 are illustrated as being all of the same size, and this assembly is preferably of appreciably less height than that of the card I5. In any event it is desired that the lower edges of the member I'I, I8 and I9 lie substantially above the lower edge of the corresponding card I5 in order that the name of the account along the lower edge of the card '5 remains exposed when the various papers are contained in the binder.

It has been found by experience that the slip assembly should preferably protrude a short distance below the next succeeding card I5 thereabove in order to facilitate opening the book to expose either the slip assembly or the correspond ing card I 5 of any selected account. In the illustrated embodiment this arrangement is made possible, while still permitting spacing of the lower edges of the cards by a distance equal to the distance between adjacent rings, by arranging the holes 20 of the sheet assemblies approximately 180 out of phase with the holes I6 of the cards, as measured from the bottom edge of each. This will be apparent upon comparison of Figs. 2 and 3 where it is seen that the lower edge of the card I5 is aligned with the center of a hole I6 while the lower edge of the sheet assembly lies a short distance below one hole 20.

The result of this out-of-phase relationship of the holes 20 and It based upon their relative positions with respect to the lower edge of the corresponding sheet or card may be seen in Fig. 1. The cards, it will be noted, are spaced along the height of the binder by a distance equal to the distance between adjacent rings and the sheets I! are visible but do not conceal the account identification appearing at the lower edge of the cards.

In the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated the rings I3 of the binder are made of such size that more than one column of cards and associated slip assemblies may be arranged therein. More specifically the first column of accounts in the book illustrated in Fig. 1 includes fifteen cards and fifteen duplicate record sheet assemblies. Beneath this column of records is a separator 22 which is preferably a thin sheet of stifi fiberboard. Below the separator 22 there is another column of records with the result that 4 thirty accounts can be maintained in this book rather than only fifteen.

When it is desired to examine an account in the second column, the first column can readily be turned over against the front cover II of the binder by manipulation of the separator 22, whereupon the name of the desired account will be visible and readily made available for inspection of for the insertion of data. Additional separators 22 may, of course, be employed along with additional columns of account papers, the addition of further columns being limited only by the size of the rings I3.

The advantages of the record book disclosed in the drawings and described above include unusual conveniences in handling of a large number of accounts, such accounts being handled in a single record book, and each being readily accessible for inspection or for the making of entries. The provision of uniformly spaced rings I3 and uniformly spaced holes in the cards I5 and in the duplicate record sheet assemblies respectively facilitates the arrangement of the individual account papers in overlapping positions along the height of the binder whereby individual accounts may be quickly identified and readily made available. The arrangement of the monthly or weekly slips I1 and I9 immediately overlying the corresponding long term record card I5 makes all records of any selected account immediately available. This is of substantial advantage both at the time of recording individual purchases and services and at the time that weekly or monthly billing is being prepared.

It has been pointed out above that the arranging of individual account papers in graduated position along the height of the record book in accordance with the illustrated embodiment exposes the lower, laterally extending edge portion of each card I5 and that the order of insertion of the papers in the record book may be reversed such that the upper edges of the cards I5 are exposed, identification of the account then appearing along the upper edge. It will be apparent also that account identification could be arranged on one of the slips H or I9. It is believed to be preferable, however, that identification appear on the relatively permanent cards I5 in order to facilitate identification of accounts at the time that the slips I1 and I 9 are withdrawn in the process of billing. While the embodiment of the invention disclosed in the drawings and described above is an account book for service sta tion operators, the invention is applicable to many other environments and to uses other than as an account book.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto since many modifications may be made, and it is, therefore, contemplated to cover by the appended claims any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A record book comprisin a loose-leaf binder having a plurality of equally spaced rings, a plurality of relatively stiff card record forms of uniform size and of a height substantially less than the height of said binder, and a plurality of paper slips of appreciably lighter weight than the record forms, one or more of said slips substantially overlying each of said record forms, each of said card forms and said slips having a plurality of equally spaced holes along one side edge thereof for cooperating with said rings for binding said card forms and said slips in said binder in the here-described manner, said record cards being bound in said binder in overlapping vertically-staggered relationship whereby a laterally extending portion of each form is exposed, said slips overlying a part of said laterally-extending portion of the immediately underlying record form to partially expose another part If said form, said slips of said relatively lighter weight facilitating the grasping of said card rec- 0rd forms and the turning of the latter and the slips associated therewith.

2. A record book comprising, a loose-leaf binder having a plurality of equally spaced rings, a plurality of relatively stifi card record forms of uniform size and of a height substantially less than the height of said binder, and a plurality of paper slips of appreciably lighter weight than the rec 0rd forms, one or more of said slips substantially overlying each of said record forms, each of said card forms and said slips having a plurality of equally spaced holes along one side edge thereof for cooperating with said rings for binding said card forms and said slips in said binder in the here-described manner, said record cards being bound in said binder in overlapping verticallystaggered relationship whereby a laterally extending portion of each form is exposed, said slips overlying a part of said laterally-extending portion of the immediately underlying record form to partially expose another part of said form, said slips of said relatively lighter weight facilitating the grasping of said card record forms and the turning of the latter and the slips associated therewith, and each of said slips having indicia thereon facilitating the recording of individual sales transactions of a particular account, each of said record forms having indicia thereon facilitating the recording of a summary of the data recorded on the corresponding one of said slips, and said laterally-extending portion of said record forms bearing identification of the corresponding account.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,595,387 Eldridge Aug. 10, 1926 2,006,795 Dawson July 2, 1935 2,068,262 Brown Jan. 19, 1937 2,174,625 Ehrlund et a1. Oct. 3, 1939 2,262,277 Godley Nov. 11, 1941 

